The program fostered effective collaboration between civil society and the Government of the Kyrgyz Republic to improve the delivery of social services, strengthen the capacity of civil society organizations, and increase access to justice for the most vulnerable populations.

Duration: Mar 2013 – Mar 2020

Budget: $11.5 million

Implementing Partner: East-West Management Institute

Key Partners: Ministry of Labor and Social Development of KR, Ministry of Justice of KR, civil society organizations, ICNL, DPI, Civic Participation Fund, and Association of Legal Clinics. 

Activity Locations: Kyrgyz Republic

MAJOR FOCUS AREAS

Under the program, USAID supported Kyrgyz Government efforts to improve the delivery of services through social procurement mechanisms and enables civil society organizations to shape public policy, enhance government transparency, and advocate for citizen concerns more effectively. The program also supported education institutions to foster the development of civil society leaders and offers grants to promote civic engagement, enhance the work of civil society organizations, promote public policy analysis and reform, and support rapid response to emerging issues of public interest. The program worked with the Ministry of Justice to increase access to justice for the most vulnerable populations with a focus on victims of domestic violence.
 

EXPECTED RESULTS AND ACHIEVEMENTS

• The program supported the Ministry of Labor and Social Development to revise the Law on State Social Procurement to engage more civil society organizations in providing social services to citizens. After the revised law was adopted in 2017, seven pilot municipalities implemented social procurement projects using new mechanisms with the program’s support. Allocation of public funding for social procurement has nearly doubled since 2017, reaching 41.5 million KGS in 2019.
• Between 2016 and 2020, the program supported public councils of various government bodies. Through these oversight councils, civil society collaborates with the government to improve its effectiveness and transparency. The councils have become more sustainable and 94% of government representatives expressed satisfaction with the work of the councils. Members of the public councils also contributed to the Kyrgyz Republic’s decision to join the Open Government Partnership.
• The program helped to advocate for the adoption of the new Law on Safeguarding and Protection against Domestic Violence, along with its supporting legal acts, and worked to raise public awareness of the law. TV and radio programs and information materials covered an audience of up to 4,000,000 people. Over 1,100 representatives of national and local entities were familiarized with mechanisms to implement the new law.
• More than 7,800 women engaged in various project-supported activities aimed at preventing domestic violence and empowering women. The program contributed to promoting gender issues in the country by promoting committees on prevention of domestic violence in 27 communities.
• Over six years, civil society organizations supported by the program implemented 100 initiatives to advance police reform, improve government procurement, increase transparency of local budgets, strengthen property rights, fight corruption, prevent domestic violence, and improve access to vital services like electricity, irrigation water and low interest loans.
• The program evaluated the organizational capacity, sustainability and leadership of over 328 civil society organizations and provided training on 20 topics based on these assessments. The majority or organizations that received this support found this exercise and training very useful and used the recommendations in practice. 
• USAID helped to establish 10 of the 25 Free Legal Aid Centers throughout Kyrgyzstan. These centers have already provided free legal consultations to over 145,300 citizens since 2016. Users can find these centers and other legal service providers on www.legalmap.gov.kg, a platform that was created with the program’s support.
• To strengthen non-profit management and help develop the next generation of civil society leaders, the program developed seven new non-profit management courses that are taught in 11 universities. The courses are now included in the permanent curricula of the universities and over 2,000 students have enrolled in them.